Look at what President Kennedy managed to achieve during the Cuban missile crisis. If Bush had been president in 1962, do you think he would have avoided a nuclear war? – Bianca Jagger

Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Premier saw an opportunity to promise and defend Cuba from the United States while also strengthening a relationship with Cuba’s Fidel Castro. So in an agreement, the Soviet Union began to transfer and ship ballistic missiles to Cuba along with technicians to operate them. It was assumed that United States President John F. Kennedy was weak and would not react to the Soviet move. However, after extensive consultation with his foreign policy and military advisers, Kennedy blockaded Cuba on October 22, 1962. The two sides stood on the brink of nuclear war, but Khrushchev surrendered six days later and the missiles were dismantled. In return, Kennedy disbanded its own missile sites in Turkey. The most confrontational period in US-Soviet relations since World War II and the start of the Cold War was put to an end finally.